Helford River by Kathryn Lewis

We woke to bright sunshine and a gentle breeze.  The perfect day for a sail.

We’d wanted to sail from Falmouth to the Scilly Islands but the timings and longer term weather forecast didn’t work out for us.  Instead we sailed the 8 nautical miles to the Helford River that is West of Falmouth.

We’d rounded Black Rock and set sail.  Then I saw breaking waves to port.  It seemed strange on such a perfect sailing day to see breaking waves.  I watched them.  Was it a rock?  But the waves were moving.  No boat was close by so it wasn’t wash.  The waves had moved again, closer to us than before.  Finally, I worked it out.  A small pod of dolphins swimming across the bay.  Sadly there’s no photographic evidence but dolphins, basking shark and seals are frequently seen in the bay so it wasn’t an aberration.

We arrived at the entrance of the river.  It’s busy.  That’s what we’d been warned, and it was.  There were French, Dutch, German and British flagged boats.  Large and small.  Power and Sail.  There’s a section of the river saved for visitor moorings amongst the permanent ones.  If it’s really busy you could be sharing.  There’s also places to anchor and, if you have a shallow drafted boat you can work your way up the creeks.  From a distance though it looked as though you could use the armada of boats as a floating bridge to walk from Helford Passage on the north shore to Helford Village on the south.   As you get closer the river opens out and there is plenty of space.

We picked up an empty mooring buoy off Helford Village and ate a late lunch.  The Mooring Officer promptly collected payment and supplied us with the River’s information pack.  There’s a water taxi running from 9:00am to 5:00pm.  Visiting yachtsman are are welcomed at the Helford Sailing Club on the south side.  There’s also a boatyard upriver at Gweeks and a shops for provisions.

Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling well so chose to sit in the cockpit alternately watching the world go by and reading.  We watched the kayakers paddling up and down, boats coming on and off moorings and later a racing gig.  We looked for prettiest boat, oldest boat and took in the stunning view and decided which of the riverside houses we’d like to live in.

Pretty boat by Kathryn Lewis

Frenchman’s Creek, famous from the Daphne du Maurier book of the same name, is round the corner and other creeks and inlets feed into the main river basin from the north and south sides.  The riverbanks are relatively steep and mainly covered in oak trees.  The area is designated as a site of special interest.

Several boats arrived after us and by 5:00pm the mooring buoys were full.  Further visitors rafted up.  A solo sailor rafted to us.  I think she found it helpful to have someone take lines.  Besides, it gave Tom someone to talk to whilst I continued to feel grim and went to bed early.

The next morning we’re woken by the sound of helicopters.  There was a Search and Rescue helicopter doing a shoreline search 50′ from the water.  Other boats were helping and a Moorings Officer was going around asking the visitors whether we’d seen any swimmers.  It was impressive coordinated search and I only hope that they were successful.

We left later in the morning but would like to come back as there’s unfinished business.

Wish List

These are some of the things I wish we could have tried or seen:

• Cruise up river and up the creeks either by tender, kayak or swim (depending on depth restrictions)
• Eat at The Ferryboat Inn Helford Passage
• Explore the gardens at Trebah Gardens
• Walk part of the coastal path which takes you down to the Lizard
• Get lost in the Maze at Glendurgan Gardens
• Anchor at St Anthony in Meneage

Search and Rescue helicopter by Kathryn Lewis